Area 51 R2 Bios chip

I browsed maybe three posts or responses the past year, but wouldn't remember who said what or where, u can do a forum search for Area 51 R2 Bios, see what u find:

• https://community.dell.com/search.jspa?q=area+51+r2+bios+won't+update

You can further state your issue here / explain what u tried, post a photo of the error screen and wait for help, or create a new post and wait it out, or head to Arena with a companion post. Alienware TechSupport on Twitter exists, maybe Facebook message to them, Bios Support page on uTube and leave a comment. Although I own the R2 case I do not own the mthrbrd for it & have no useful advice for force-updating the Bios, an Alien Tech would have to jump in with their method here or on the phone, or another owner that has the work-around if it exists. If I was on say an A10 and can't get to an A11, I might re-flash 10 then try 11  

No one in this forum has reported doing a replacement chip themself that I've heard about, I've watched vids on it, saw a couple pros do one, they qualify as surface mount components, so eventually if you watch basic component removal you see the techniques; I'd say it qualifies as delicate work best left to someone with prior experience, local TV-radio repairman or similar. If you do-it-yourself, prepare for worst = have $ for replacement board. Videos show it can be done with time, effort, patience, proper tools ... hope it works out

solder bios chip --> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=solder+bios+chip

Tips and tricks might come from the vendor > BIOS CHIP Dell Alienware Area 51 R2 desktop http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIOS-CHIP-Dell-Alienware-Area-51-R2-desktop-/400704275407?epid=1754660035&hash=item5d4bd603cf:g:Q98AAOSwx-9Wv4Ly

Hotwell Boards tend to be XJKKD, Bwell is FRTKJ or 9G12C, pre-owned eBay starts @ ~$150 > https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_oac=1&_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=ALIENWARE+AREA+51+r2+motherboard&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=15

Oh wow, i remember you giving me advice for my aurora r4 years ago, nice to see you are still around man. 

Yeah, i was just checking online videos for soldering on motherboard and i changed my mind...  So many things can go wrong

I will give it another shot to update BIOS from USB although i tried and i just couldnt get to read the USB... Is there a tutorial on the forum about this? I searched and did not find specific a51r2 tutorial just generic DELL which doesnt work for me. 

I wish i was A10, i am at A01... 

Well these are the steps i took, since update from within Windows did not work, i took a flash drive (4GB so it can be converted to bootable FAT) then formatted into bootable, copied the BIOS exe then booted pressing F12 to select to Flash drive... After that it would give an error and had to restart PC. No DOS enviroment to select the BIOS update at all... 

Anyway, if anyone had experience with the A51R2 and USB BIOS flash, or a tech, help would be much appreciated. 

My last try will be now trying to go into windows safe mode and see if flashing works from there.

[EDIT]: I managed to get into DOS, and after a 5 minute drain and BIOS battery removal I tried flashing 3 different roms (A02, A03, A04) and still nothing, i will try a prolonged power drain (leave it overnight) to see if that helps. Most probably a bad BIOS chip like in alot of AREA 51 R2... Really bad quality control on these boards... 

Constant 11 wrote:

[EDIT]: I managed to get into DOS, and after a 5 minute drain and BIOS battery removal I tried flashing 3 different roms (A02, A03, A04) and still nothing, i will try a prolonged power drain (leave it overnight) to see if that helps. Most probably a bad BIOS chip like in alot of AREA 51 R2... Really bad quality control on these boards... 

by "still nothing" you meen the BIOS Update went through but you are still on A01 Version?

Exactly. And getting error in DOS 

If machine is Posting, and can do all that ... I really doubt BIOS chip is bad.

Directions are here:

Alienware Desktop - General Hardware Troubleshooting 

Maybe a corrupt download. Get A02 from here:

Alienware Area-51 R2 System BIOS Driver Details | Dell US 

Verify SHA1 or at least MD5 before using.

After many different resets and trying as above, if nothing works, I would say MB is flaky/trashed. Replace it.

I used those directions, and verified SHA1 and also downloaded the BIOS versions from two different DELL locations. Still, in Windows it shows success and it does not update and in DOS i still get the problem reading file error. In similar cases and machines  i read online that DELL technicians replaced motherboard when they could not update BIOS, so thats what makes me think there are problematic BIOS chips on these motherboards. Oh well, gives me a good reason to replace the motherboard and chip with an x299 in the near future. Thank you all for trying to resolve it with me. 

My suggestion would be to try an older version of Windows.

The reason I say this, is because I too had a problem where WinFlash.exe did NOT update my Area-51 R2 BIOS to version A09, even though it said it was successful, on Windows 10 Build 14971. I filed feedback in the Windows 10 Feedback Hub, here: https://aka.ms/Qvr9j5 

So ... according to my records, Build 14971 was between (Version 1607 Build 14393 Anniversary Update) and (Version 1703 Build 15063).

Perhaps you could try installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update build, or maybe a Windows 8.1 build, to see if the BIOS update will take. http://windowsiso.net/  seems trustworthy to me, if you need an iso.

PS: I kept all the BIOS upgrades for this Area 51-R2 PC, so I have A01, A02, A03, A04, A08, A09, A10, A11, A12 .. in case you need them. Reply here if you do.

Maybe try (old version of Windows 10 + A02 bios) perhaps?

Can someone please post a pic showing the location of the BIOS chip?  I plan to replace mine to address this issue and want to make sure I replace the correct chip :-) (don't want to assume the one closest to the clear jumper is the right one).

Did you try using this exact version to do the update:
(Version 1607 Build 14393 Anniversary Update)

If you haven't tried it yet, I'd really like you to try it.

If the USB boot disk update doesn't work (same symptom - says the update completed successfully but BIOS remains A03), why would a different Win10 version make any difference?

All Area-51 owners had a 1year warranty base and ample time to consume some form of tech-support. For those owners within their warranty period you should contact the Aliens. If you're out of warranty, I've contacted the BiosDepot through eBay; when asked which chip is the Bios chip, response =  

"Hi, Do you have the motherboard on hand? Can you give me the printing on the chip in the picture at https://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/4/9/1/9/1/3/webimg/968181239_o.jpg ? Please let me know and I'll verify the chip."

Contact Bios Depot and post photo of what is the Bios chip relative to their photo above >

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIOS-CHIP-Dell-Alienware-Area-51-R2-desktop-/400704275407?hash=item5d4bd603cf:g:Q98AAOSwx-9Wv4Ly

*I own the XJKKD motherboard but can not resolve the figures / numbers of the chip circled in red, the text is too small both with glasses and magnifying glass. My Bios is at A11 and I 'm unable to provide BiosDepot the info they need because I can't see it. Contact them for help and post your findings here for others > https://www.ebay.com/itm/400704275407?ul_noapp=true

*they linked me to the chip circled in red, and asked me: is this it? An odd affair ... ... ... submit the text to them if you can read it

Best solution in my opinion is to upgrade warranty (If expired), and get Dell to send you a new motherboard. Thats what i did and they sent me a new motherboard which is a newer revision than the one i had. Looked into soldering but could have ended with a dead motherboard anyways. 

This is what I see on mine:

and this is the replacement BiosDepot provided:

Looks like they are compatible except the Winbond can only operate up to 104MHz according to its datasheet while the Macronix currently installed datasheet says it goes to 133MHz.  :-/